It happens every fall. Fierce arguments erupt over which U.S. college football team is the best in the nation. As the season progresses, this frenzy of head scratching and navel gazing mounts until the climactic bowl games at the end of the year (more or less) settle the issue. This year, the controversy featured a mathematical element, in the form of a complicated formula for determining the two teams that would play for the national championship. Based on various poll results and other factors, the formula represented an effort to avoid situations such as last year's split decision, when Michigan topped one and Nebraska the other of the two main national polls....